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Try a real e-reader, not that Sony piece of crap. I would have thrown that Sony against the wall the first time it took an hour to do anything. Try a bottom-end Kindle. It's way better than what you describe.

The first e-reader I had was a Sony touch. It worked really well for me, but I'm also just reading fiction on it and not scientific journals. It never took an hour to start up for me. I tried using it with the europe lonely planet ebook on a road trip once, and it was a bit useless since the maps and any images took forever to load. That sort of thing is not really what it was designed for though. For just reading normal books, it was great. I liked it better than the Nook and Kindle offerings at the time.

As many people on Slashdot have probably noticed, there are more than a few geeks who are infected with Smartest Motherfucker in the Universe syndrome. Since they've gone through their lives generally being a good deal more intelligent than their peers, but with poor social skills, it can lead to an arrogance that they are smarter than basically anyone else, and that their knowledge is supreme not just in their field, but in all fields.

Well that then is ripe for anti-scientific shit like anti-vaxxer crap. They believe they are in on a secret that normal people are just too stupid to see, that they are smarter and better than those sheep doctors and so on and so forth. It feeds their ego on their intellect to believe they know better than the medical establishment.

So this surprises me not at all. SV has all the right elements to be a hotbed of this kind of shit.

I am really glad I went to a "smart" high school program because of this. Once I got into a crowd of other Smartest Motherfuckers, I realized that I really wasn't, and amongst the Smartest Motherfuckers, I was only about average. Then I graduated and went to college and was like "wait, where are all the other Smartest Motherfuckers?". Then I went and got a real job at Some Company that's nothing special, and I've largely forgotten what I learned in high school.

Being a self-perceived-intelligent pig-headed engineer myself, I think you're missing a critical component in that description. I'm right, until proven otherwise. Show me a trustworthy test, show me trustworthy data, show me trustworthy studies, show me proof from a respectable authority that I'm wrong and I will happily change my mind and apologize to you for wasting your time in having to convince me.

Not everybody seems capable of determing what sources are trustworthy and what sources are not. Combine the same self-perceived-intelligence and pig-headded-ness with a distrust of "government" or "the man", and there you have it. At that point, the "mainstream" "trustworthy" sources are just a part of the conspiracy, so the only sources to be trusted are those on the fringe that are supressed and bringing you the real truth.

I have a good friend who is a very smart autodidact, but also a massive skeptic. You could probably put him in the "holocaust denier" camp because of this. I've gotten into arguments with him about it a couple times, and the sources that he always brings up are aryan nation affiliated internet forums or postings on these forums linking to sources elsewhere. The main contention is the number of Jewish holocaust deaths. Of course, the sources that I cite to counter his arguments are all part of the Isreali Jewish conspiracy.

I think you just made nimbius's point for him. Sure, you can systemd gentoo, but you don't have to. From the gentoo wiki page that you linked, at the very top: "It is supported in Gentoo as an alternate init system."

This is how Linux was. If you didn't like the way something worked, you used something else instead. Unlike the large distros that are moving more towards "here is all your crap", love it or leave it.

Not to mention that Smart TVs have a bad record of having their interfaces/applications updated.

This was actually the primary reason I opted for the ROKU and a short bus TV. I had read many horror stories of services no longer working in reviews of older "smart" TVs because the firmware was never updated. My ROKU updates all the time. Plus it's got an awesome remote or I can control it with my phone! And way more services than smart TVs. And lots of WAY COOL hidden channels too.

I have a SmartTV that's about 3 years old now, and it seems like every three days it updates something or other.

The doctors told him that pretty much anyone who jogged that much has to get new knees.

Running is a complex biomechanical activity. Most people I see running are not running with biomechanically-correct form. This probably stems from lack of knowledge of how to run correctly, lack of core strength to run correctly, shoes that do not fit their physiology and personal running form, etc., etc.

Since most people run with poor form, it's not a surprise that most people that jog require knee replacements.

Modern padded running shoes promote bad form, causing knee and other injuries, and prevent your feet from strengthening, causing planar fascitis and a few other maladies. Your foot is actually well constructed to run, but it can't do it's job wrapped in a ton of leather and foam.

I've had some success with minimalist running shoes (abrasion protection only, no padding, sole is about 1/8" thick)- it's important to enable your feet to strengthen. After a few weeks of walking around in thin shoes, I started running again and it felt like I had new feet- it was awesome.

I've been wearing Newtons for the past few years. I had tried running regularly in the past, but always quit after awhile because of knee/leg pain. The first few times it was from just trying to go too far too fast. One year I took it up slowly and was able to do a 5k, but my knees/legs were still sore. After that first 5k, I picked up a pair of Newtons to give them a shot. The first month of running in them was very awkward and caused soreness in whole different groups of muscles, but even on the first run with them I didn't feel it in my knees at all. Been running mostly pain free since then.

10 years ago in college I was talking with a teacher with a PHD related to wellness and we got on this exact topic. They told me too much exercise is well known to increase arterial plaque and was a major health issue with long distance runners. Great hearts, bad plaque.

When I was a state champion level gymnast my health was amazing. I had six pack abs at the age of eleven because I worked out and trained 20 hours a week.

During that time I ate mcdonalds every day. I ate fries at school. Milkshakes, candy bars. Any source of calories I could get.

And my health was phenomenal.

Everyone (but women especially for some reason) seems to think that a 'healthy' diet is the answer when what they really need is to work more. I'm not saying healthy eating is bad. But if you don't use your body it will never truly be your tool and always be something your working against rather than working for you.

Use your body or it will atrophy in every way.

Do you still have that six pack? Are you still eating mcdonalds, fries, milkshakes, and candy bars all the time?